Valved piston.



Lwwow No.. 688,445. Patented Dec. l0, I90l.

.1. c. SNYDER.-

VALVED PISTON.

(Application filed Jan. 9, 1901.

(lo Model.)

.13 14 ,.Z95/-' 8 5 if .16

tion.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. r

JOHN C. SNYDER, OF BOWLING GREEN, OHIO.

VALVED PISTON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 688,445, dated DecemberI0, 1901.

I Application filed January 9, 1901. Serial No. 42,671. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN C. SNYDER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Bowling Green, in the county of Wood and State of Ohio, haveinvented a new and useful Valved Piston, of which the following is aspecifica- My present invention relates to improvements in valvedpistons or working valves for Artesian or other wells. Wells of thischaracter are sunk or bored to great depths and are usually lined by ametallic well casing or tube containing a loose foot-valve at oradjacent to the bottom'of the casing and a working valve or valvedpiston operated from a point above the well through the medium of avalve stem or rod of great length. The working valve comprises a hollowpiston the opening through which is controlled by a suitably-retainedgravity-valve,and close contact is maintained between the Well-casingand the exterior of the working valve or piston by means of aseries ofannular rings of compressible material-as, forinstance, leathersecuredupon the exterior of the piston and ordinarily denominatedbuckets,orsuckers. Owing to the considerable fluid-pressure encountered at greatdepths, it is very difficult to insure the retention of thesepacking-rings or suckers against accidental displacement. Suchdisarrangement of the working valve is particularly disastrous, for thereason that any parts which may become loosened will gravitate to thebottom of the well and will greatly interfere with, if, indeed, they donot actually prevent, the effective operation of the foot-valve.

The object of my invention, therefore, is to providemeans for effectingthe secure attachment of the annular rings or suckers to the piston of.the working valve in a manner to facilitate their detachment to replaceworn or inefficient parts.

To the accomplishment of this object the invention is comprehended inthe. preferred embodiment thereof to be described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings,and defined in the appended claims.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a central longitudinal section of thevalved piston complete. Fig. 2 is a detail view of the cotter or lookingmember, and Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view of the sleeve detached.

bered for the reception of a ball-valve 3, ar-

ranged to move within the chamber or. cage 4 of the shank and to seatupon a removable annular valve-seat 5, retained upon the upper end ofthe piston l by the shank 2, having shouldered connection therewith, asshown. The lower portion of the piston 1 is slightly reduced in externaldiameter, and upon it are slipped a series of leather buckets, washers,or suckers 6 6, &c., between which are interposed spacing and retainingcollars 7 7, &c. These alternating suckers and collars are retainedsecurely in place by an internally threaded sleeve 8, screwed upon theeXteriorly-threaded lower end of the piston and provided with adepending loop 9, as shown. It will now appear that should theretaining-sleeve 8 become displaced the suckers or packing-rings and theintermediate spacing-collars will readily slip from the piston, andbesides destroying its efiectiveness will gravitate to the foot-valveand prevent the operation of p the latter. until these detached partsare rescued with an expenditure of considerable time and labor. tion istherefore directed to the provision of means for efiecting the secureretention of the sleeve 8 against accidental displacement, whilepermitting its ready removal when necessary. Such means comprehends,essentially, a cotter 10, formed of resilient metal and provided at oneend witha lug ll of rightangular form and at or adjacent to its oppositeend with a detent 12. The purpose of this particular form ofretaining-lug is to insure the retention of the cotter againstaccidental detachment when the sleeve and col lars are removed from thepiston. Ordinarily the cotter is retained in place by a lateralprojection or lug which merely enters the perforation in the piston.Where such a construction is employed, the removal of the sleeve andlower collars permits the accidental detachment of the cotter, which isobjectionable, because ordinarily the collars are merely removed for thepurpose of removing worn suckers or buckets, and there The invenisusually no call for the removal of the cotter. For the purpose ofprovidinga seat for the cotter the wall of the piston 1 is pierced by anorifice 13, from the outer end of which extends a longitudinal groove14, terminating in a slot 15, opening through the end face of thepiston-wall. The slot 15 is about one-third as long as the cotter andextends entirely through the wall of the piston. The lodgment of aforeign substance under the lower end of the cotter is thus prevented,and it is kept free for retraction when the removal of the sleeve isdesired. The orifice 13 is designed for the reception of thelaterally-disposed leg 11 of the lug 11, the longitudinally-disposed legor end 11" of said lug being disposed fiat against the inner face of thepiston. The cotter is seated in the groove 14, with its outer facesubstantially flush with the periphery of the piston in order that itmay be secured against accidental displacement by one or more of thealternating collars 7. It will be noted that the leg 11 of the lug 11and the body portion of the cotter are disposed in opposite directionsfrom the aperture'13, but are dis posed in offset relation by the leg 11of the lug 11, so that said parts are disposed, respectively, againstthe inner and outer surfaces of the piston-wall. The lower end of thecotter being disposed opposite the slot 15 is permitted to spring backfor the purpose of withdrawing the detent 12 from engagement with eitherof a plurality of notches 16 in the interior face of the sleeve 8 andextending varying distances from the lower end thereof. The resiliencyof the cotter tends to urge the detent outwardly against the interiorface of the sleeve 8 as the latter is screwed to place to eifect theengagement of the detent with a notch for the purpose of preventingunscrewing of the sleeve and the consequent release of the suckers andcollars. As stated, the notches 16 are of difierent lengths and aredesigned to be successively engaged by the detent as it becomesnecessary from time to time to screw up the sleeve 8 for the purpose ofcompensating for wear. The utility of the notches 16 of difierentlengths will be apparent when we consider the manipulation necessary tosecure the sleeve in place. When the sleeve 8 is screwed upon the lowerend of the piston, its rotation is not interfered with until the cottersprings into the upper end of the longest notch, and if continuedrotation is necessary the cotter is depressed to permit another rotationof the sleeve, a single depression of the cotter being necessary foreach complete rotation of the sleeve as it is screwed to place. If allof the notches were of the same length, the cotter would have to bedepressed three times during each rotation of the sleeve, which would beunnecessary and objectionable. It is necessary, however, to supply morethan one notch,because after the sleeve has been screwed to place and itis desired to turn it somewhat to compensate for wear it is seldomnecessary to rotate it more than a part of a rotation. Therefore thesecond notch is provided of less length than the first, so that while itdoes not receive the cotter when the sleeve is being first screwed up itis adapted for its reception during the subsequent rotation of thesleeve to compensate for wear. The same consideration governs theprovision of other notches of less length, so that as the sleeve isscrewed farther up during the course of repeated adjustments it isprovided with means for holding it for only veryslight movement from anygiven position.

If for any reason it should become necessary to remove either theleather rings or intermediate collars, it is simply necessary to pressinwardly upon the depending end of the cotter to withdraw the detentfrom engagement with the notch in the sleeve, when, as will be obvious,the latter may be unscrewed and the series of rings and collars removedfrom the piston.

From the foregoing it will appear that I have produced a novel workingvalve or valved piston comprehending means for detachably securing aseries of packing-rings, washers, suckers, or buckets againstdisplacement; but while the present embodiment of my invention isbelieved at this time to be preferable I wish to reserve the right toeffect such changes, modifications, and variations of the structureshown and described as may be fairly comprehended within the scope ofthe protection prayed.

What I claim is--- 1. A valved piston provided with a series of suckersalternating with a series of metal sleeves on said piston, a sleevescrewed upon one end of the piston and provided with a plurality ofnotches of diiferent lengths, and a spring-cotter having a detent at itslower end normally in engagement with said screwthreaded sleeve andsecured at its upper end by one or more of said alternating metalsleeves.

2. In a valved piston for oil-wells, a valvecarrying tube provided withan opening in its wall, a spring-cotter having a detent at its lower endand provided at its upper end with a right-angular lug, one leg of thelug being located within the opening, and the other leg of the lug beingdisposed against the interior face of the piston, a series of buckets orsuckers alternating with a series of metal sleeves on said tube, ascrew-threaded portion at the bottom of said tube, and a screw-threadedsleeve thereon provided with a plurality of notches of differentlengths, disposed for engagement with the detent.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aflixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN C. SNYDER.

\Vitnesses:

J. P. PHILLIPS, IOLA BICKERSTAFF.

